Demetri - Things to consider when making a Soap

From my analysis of failed Soap Opera Eldarado, I have decided that I will have to consider key conventions such as community and representation to make mine succesful. Representation was important to Eldarado and the fact that it changed from representing only Britain, to other places in Europe arguably contributed to the show's failure. Community is also an important factor, realism is a key convention in soap and having a sense of community (various links/relationships between characters) is an element that cannot be left out. I will look at Soap Operas, particularly Eastenders and the sense of community based around it's setting (Albert Square) as well as the traditional Biritsh character representation. I will consider the predictability of my Soap's story lines in an attempt to keep the audience interested as well as plan out the Soap's cliff hangers and ongoing issues in such a way that I can rely on the audience to tune in when ever it's on. I will challenge my audience when developing emotion towards the characters with the use of realism, this will contribute to overall success as people will relate to the show and grow fond of it.

Demetri - Eastenders Title Sequence Analysis

The Eastenders title sequence is arguably the most memorable title sequence in the history of Soap Opera's; it has remained pretty much the same for over two decades and has become somewhat iconic. The title sequence makes very good use of key elements such as Mise En Scene, sound, camera work & editing; this contributes to its overall success and appeal. Like the start of many films, the title sequence opens with an establishing shot of a location, whilst this is the only shot apart from the still at the end of the sequence, it is very effective as it puts the viewers into perspective with the area the show is filmed across. The only real editing that has gone on is the 'Eastenders' and the 'BBC' logo fading in at the end of the sequence, this simplistic approach is just right as there is no need for high end editing here. The use of Mise En Scene is also basic but effective, as the establishing shot spirals out the location is easily identifiable just from noticing the River Thames running across the screen. Already this is making the viewer feel at home and is a big bonus for the show's realism. The soundtrack for Eastenders is probably the most important of all of these elements, the drum roll is a motif and when it's heard it is immediately linked to Eastenders. It is also used at the end of the show as it's builds tension as the show always ends with some sort of shocking revelation or cliff hanger. The theme tune has a laid back feel to it, and sounds very slow and calm. This is a contrast to the show's storylines and is quite ironic, if I hadn't seen Eastenders or heard its theme song before I would expect it to more upbeat. The fact that it's mellow can only be described as an apparent success due to the fact that it has been embraced for so long. The theme song suits Eastenders perfectly.

Demetri - What is a Soap Opera?

A Soap Opera is a type of genre which has become increasingly popular particularly in the UK over a number of years, Soap Opera's are recognisable from their traditional conventions which include:

.Cliff hangers

.Parallel storylines

.Stereotypical representation of social class

.Gossip

.Affairs,

.Dialogue

All these elements are key when considering producing a Soap Opera. Soap's are almost always serial's, they're designed to juggle loads of storylines at once which lead to new storylines, having a show which can go on for decades. Eastenders is a good example of this.

Soap's focus mainly on Narrative, (a sequence of events constructed to tell a story, Soaps use open-ended narratives so while there is resolutions to storylines there is no real end) Representation (the soaps producers point of view on things, for example characters can be represented with stereotypes or those stereotypes can be challenged. Representation plays a big part and is very common) Realism (making what the audience see believable and giving them something to realte to in the show, realism can be achieved by having the show up to date with current affairs such as exams) and Audience (the audience is the people who will view the soap, careful consideration must be taken when deciding on a target audience and many things including age, gender, ethnicity, working class and more have to be thought through)

Demetri - First Soap Opera Treatment - The Staff Room

‘The Staff Room’ is a Soap Opera based around the lives of people working at Wintervalley Secondary School, a place known by most for its controversy and poor reputation. Although there is a variety of staff featured, we have three main characters that the storylines will be based upon.

Our first main character is Jonathon Moore, a white Caucasian man in his late thirties who is the Headteacher at Wintervalley. Being the head teacher, Jonathan is a powerful person who’s often slandered for his decisions; he’s often in local newspapers for the issues surrounding the school. He is liked by few and is considered more of a tyrant than a head teacher. Our second main character is Carl Clark, a Black male in his early twenties who works as a peer mentor. Carl is a well known figure in the school; he works closely with the students and is often trying to resolve of any drama that goes on between students, as well as staff. Our third main character is Jane Smith, a white Caucasian woman in her mid thirties. Jane is the head of the English department at Wintervalley and is considered to be ridiculously strict, not a good teacher and someone who doesn’t deserve their position in the school. Jane is surrounded by controversies and although there has never been evidence, just denial she is said to have had affairs with other teachers in the school. Our three main characters all share business relationships with each other and are the catalysts for plots that contain deception, confrontation, affairs, gossip and other Soap Opera conventions.

In more detail, Wintervalley Secondary School is in South London (although the actual set of the program will be in a location in North London), it is set in 2010. The time zone of the program will be the same as the time zone of its target audience to add to the shows realism. The target audience is 16-24 year olds, both male and female who come from working class backgrounds in London, England. A description of my typical viewer will be a male who’s in Year 11, studying for his GCSE’s at his Secondary school. Being a student himself, viewing a program like this he will be at some sort of understanding with some of the shows elements and for that reason will relate and enjoy the show more.

The channel I’ve chosen my program to be shown on is E4, I chose E4 because it is often associated with programs watched by younger audiences and this is a show that will be seen mainly by teenagers. E4 to me seems like the perfect channel for it, although E4 doesn’t have many Soap Operas this will be something different and I’m hoping the mixture of different elements I have here will be successful in attracting a variety of audiences. I’ve chosen the viewing time for the show to be 10.00 pm, past watershed as the program will contain some sexual references and mild violence. The frequency is 3 times a week, it will be shown on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I’ve chosen it to be 3 times because each week will have 3 episodes based around one of the 3 characters storylines, then the next week will have 3 episodes on another characters storyline.
The first episode of the staff room will begin at the heart of a Police investigation involving our main characters; a gang of year 11 Wintervalley students have been linked to the near-death of a student in the lower years. Reports suggest that the students notoriously bullied the student for some time, right under the noses of our main characters. Police interviews to get to the bottom of this devastating affair play as an introduction to our main characters as well as setting the scene for this drama-ridden school. The first episode will contain intense drama as small detail involving the affair are revealed, at the end of the episode a revelation is made that a member of staff may have been behind all of this. The episode ends on a strong cliff hanger that will want the viewers wanting more.
The episodes in the coming weeks will focus on the issue at hand; whilst more is revealed on who is behind the assault of this student and why, within a few episodes the issue will be a door to other problems until eventually each character has their own parallel storyline. Each storyline will most of the time be linked to that of another characters. Problems such as the school being monitored, close to being shut down; and key characters having their work careers compromised will be common.